Cedar Point juts into the St. Lawrence River where it widens into Lake Ontario, creating a sheltered swimming beach that draws families back summer after summer. You'll spread your towel on sand that stays cool even in July heat, then step into water so clear you can count pebbles around your ankles. The bay curves in a gentle arc, protected enough for toddlers to splash in knee-deep shallows while older kids swim out to the roped boundary, watching freighters inch across the distant shipping channel.
“This is freshwater beach camping within sight of oceangoing freighters navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway's international shipping lanes.”
Credit: FlickrNW Northport Leelanau MI Exclusive and Restricted CEDAR LODGE RESORT c.1910 Waterfront Beach at THE CEDAR LODGE WONDERFUL Northport Point Memories West Grand Traverse Bay PHOTOGRAPHER UNK1
The campground sprawls across eighty acres of mixed hardwood and pine, with sites tucked among the trees just yards from the beach. You'll hear the rhythmic lap of waves against the shore from your tent, wake to the calls of cedar waxwings in the branches overhead. Day visitors claim the picnic pavilions early on weekends, grilling hot dogs while keeping one eye on swimmers and another on the parade of boats navigating the Seaway.
Sunset transforms the bay into hammered copper, the water going still as the heat breaks. You'll watch the light drain from pink to violet behind the silhouetted islands, the first stars appearing over Canada's shore. Night brings campfires and the particular quiet of a freshwater beach—no crashing surf, just the gentle percussion of wavelets on sand and the occasional distant foghorn calling through the dark.
